"Welcome back to Denver," proclaimed Denver mayor Michael Hancock, who held his knife steady as he sliced into a bloody filet at yesterday's ribbon-cutting ceremony at Ruth's Chris Steak House, the beefy, New Orleans-based shrine to cow that reopened last night in a swanky, 10,000-square-foot space in downtown Denver, nearly five years after it closed its original location in LoDo. "You're like a long-lost girlfriend that finally came back to the one she loved," enthused Hancock, adding that Ruth's Chris would be "phenomenally successful" and "add to the luster of downtown and the 16th Street Mall." And then, after slicing his steak, Hancock wondered aloud what he should do next. "Eat it!" thundered general manager Eddy Gomez. Hancock, of course, obliged.

The steak house, which Gomez described as "warm, welcoming and elegant," is open for dinner nightly. Here's a first look at the space and the sizzle.